Sakura's Little Wolf Pack
by AkatsukiStalkers-RebelQueens
Summary: she risked her life to save them once, but would she do it again? what if they weren't the same as she thought they were? and what have they ever done to earn her help? it was their leader's whole fault she couldn't even go home, why would she ever help them? exactly, you have no answer, do you? Author: Brendy Neko
1. River waters of pain

**Sakura's Little Wolf Pack**

me: hi! hope you like this story! i chose wolves because my cousin Neko-chan's friend Sakura's [yes, im not kidding! her name is ACTUALLY Sakura] fave animal is a wolf.

Hidan: who the hell cares? you don't half to do what SHE likes.

Sakura: yeah. i thought you liked cats best, and your cousin Neko-chan did too?

me: well, yea... but i kinda owe her...

Deidara: eh? how?

me: well, im sure everyone noticed i was slacking on all my storys and what not-

Kisame: yea, got lazy did we?

me: no! my computer got a virus. and Sakura 2 is a techno nerd, she got rid of it for me.

Sasori: hurrah, love-the-Naruto-hoties does not own Naruto.

me: hey, did you know that baby wolfs can be called both cubs and pups?

Sakura: really? cool.

Kakazu: can we get to the story already?

me: looks like Sasori isn't the only one who hates to be kept waiting...

Itachi: Hn...

Sakura's jaw gaped in a huge yawn. what a tiring trip just to get a rare herb, but at least it was over. Sakura had been away from her home for 3 and a half weeks, and it would take another half month to return home from the village of rain.

checking into an Inn, Sakura headed up to the room she had just been given. _a nice shower, then ill head to bed._ she decided.

so, she took a long, hot shower. it felt great, her sore muscles lulled and the pain of her travels numbed. she stepped out again, drying off with a blue towel. she slipped into a simple white dress, and brushed down her wet hair.

she relaxed happily, finding herself in the clutched of the soft bed.

waking early, Sakura remained in her simple white dress. she re-brushed her hair, now dry, and slipped on her pack. she left the room, feeling rather happy, and paid the owner.

"arigato, young miss." the elderly man said with a smile. Sakura smiled back, with a polite bow before going on her way.

walking along, still heading to the Rain village's exit, she began to think. _well, a whole two weeks... this is going to be a long walk. but if i use soldier pills, and teleport my way there, it should take 4 days. perfect!_

with the thought of a quick journey in mind, Sakura smiled. and after reaching the gates of the rain and exiting, Sakura stopped on the path to get a pill.

_*howl...*_

Sakura looked up for a minute. _a wolf?_ she wondered. she ignored it as she went back to searching her bag.

*_howl* *howl* *howl*_

3 more howls echoed out of the forest, all at the same time. once more she stopped. deciding to take a look, she set her bag down on the edge of the path and started to walk into the woods.

the sunny weather felt nice to Sakura, but the bone chilling howl kept her mind far from relaxed. she began to realize how scarred the howl sounded, and her pace speed quickly to a run.

the sound of thunder above her made Sakura realize that no more sun was hitting her skin, and a drizzle began to fall.

then she realized there was another steady beat, growing louder as she approached. she burst from the woods, to find a large river, the current unbelievably fast from Rain's wet climate.

then another howl erupted, sounding near and very despairing. Sakura's eyes caught on a branch, struggling to cling to it were a couple wolf cubs. not far away there was a couple pups huddled on top of the rocks that jutted from the foaming water. a golden pup on the branch howled aloud once more.

Sakura stared in horror as all the cubs on the branch began to whimper when the small golden up's grip slipped.

"hold on!" she called. she noticed vaguely that the pups all looked at her, eyes brimming with hope. Sakura plunged, arms first, into the rushing water.

a strong swimmer, and lover of water, Sakura reached the small wolf very fast. but the small bundle the size of her hand had swallowed a lot of water. Sakura swam strongly to the water's bank, where she laid the pup down on the ground- wet from the increasing storm.

diving back out, she swam toward the stick held in place by two rocks. Their were yips of joy as she reached, and Sakura carried them all to where she had left the one she had already pulled out. she looked up river, 3 more pups were yelping for her to help. she swam out and retried the pups as well, one of which kept licking her face in thank you kisses.

settling down, she looked at all the pups who were panting from the experience. _ten pups, all looking to be the same age. maybe... 4 months of age?_

all the pups were shivering, fur thoroughly soaked and most defiantly not drying off in the now raging storm. Sakura looked at herself, she wasn't any dryer.

"huff, now what?" she said with a sigh. she stood up, tired from her difficult swim, and gazed at the pack of pups. the golden pup had yet to wake, and two other pups looked like they couldn't walk anymore.

the animal lover in her screamed to help them, and she looked at the pitiful group with a sigh.

Sakura got to her knees, and reached over to the golden pup. she scooped him up, and held it to her chest. the pup instinctively snuggled toward her body warmth, but his breaths still came rather shallow as he remained unconscious. the two very exhausted pups- a black and white cub split down the middle and another pup that was dark blue with a white ear- were on their side, overly tired. she gently picked them up too, and they shrank into her arms.

the other young wolfs looked up at her. her arms full, she motioned with her head to follow as she said "its ok, just follow me." she began to walk, and as she turned her head she watched as they hesitantly followed.

she got back to her bag at the path, and slung it over one shoulder. she had pulled out a map, and found that a cave was rather near by. but as she cast a glance back at the cubs she began to see that they did have injurys, and were becoming to exhausted to move.

"it's ok, we will get somewhere safe soon." she said, eyes looking sympathetically around at the 7 pups who had to walk.

they reached the cave rather fast, and all the walking pups shuffled into the dry hole. Sakura set the 3 in her arms down gently, and searched her pack. she found matches, and a summoning scroll with which she stored emergency fire wood.

she set up a relatively warm fire, and watched as the pups all inched toward the warmth. Sakura pulled out the three blankets and her blue towel, along with her medic kit.

the blonde wolf at her side had still yet to wake, making her nervous. she pulled him onto her lap, and summoned chakra to her finger tips. she forced the water in his lunges up and out his mouth. she was very aware of the gazes of the wolfs resting on her as she attempted to save the young pup.

as she was pulling out the last of it, the cub began to cough and sputter, a natural reaction she was hoping for. his crystal blue eyes opened, and they met with her jade eyes. she sighed relief, and gave him a once over. she managed up a gash on his side. finally, she used the towel to dry off his long golden fur.

she did the same for the other little wolfs in the pack, healing them then drying them.

Sakura grabbed one of the three blankets. she took it, and stretched it out near the fire place. "this one is for you guys." she said, motioning to the fluffy, warm, and dry blanket. a few of them sniffed cautiously, while others stumbled sleepily without so much as a sniff. and eventual, all of the wolves were snuggled up, some sleeping while a few kept their eyes glued on her.

Sakura examined the plain white dress she wore, soaking wet and clinging to her skin uncomfortably. "huff... i'll catch a cold like this..." she sighed. she stalked over to her bag.

she pulled out another towel, and a simple pink dress with cherries here and there. she quickly pulled off her white dress, and dried off her bra and underwear with the towel. then she slipped into the warm pink dress. drying her pink hair, she turned back to see that all the cubs were staring at her, eyes huge.

Sakura met their gazes, then shrugged. she snagged her bag again, and pulled out another scroll. she sat down on the floor, and summoned a lot of food.

Sakura searched it, and pulled out some raw beef. "are any of you hungry?" she asked, examining the pups. they all sat up, some yiping excitedly while others just looked at the meat intently.

Sakura smiled, dividing some meat into reasonable portions for the young pups. she set them down in white bowls, and watched with amusement as she prepared some curry and rice balls for herself.

before eating, she got a large bowl. she filled it with rain water and set it next to the cub's bed. then she fixed up her own bed with the other two blankets. she sat down on it, facing the fire with the cubs to her left, and ate her own food.

a smaller, black and brown pup stumbled over the lumpy blanket. he pawed her knee, whining as he looked at the pinkette with big dark brown eyes.

Sakura stopped her chop sticks in the bowl, and looked down at the tiny pup. she smiled down at the small thing, and moved her now free hand over his warm fur. she snagged a piece of dinner roll, and swabbed it through the curry. she lowered it down, where the tiny pup licked it experimental.

"it's ok, this was my mom's secret recipe. i made it my self, it should be safe for wolfs." she said with a smile at how cute the little creature was. he took a small bite, then his eyes sparkled as he gulped down the rest.

"i know, right? my mom always was a good cook..." she said trailing off. the small cub looked at her, pressing his nose to her knee. her eyes returning from somewhere distant, Sakura looked with a sad smile to the pup. she gazed over the others as well.

"your much too young to be alone... i'll have to make sure you live long enough so you could live on your own..." she said to herself decisively.

all but three pups were asleep, the small pup she gave the curry, and two cubs sitting beside side by side. an orange one with grey eyes, and a black cub with onyx eyes.

neither of the two looked to have any emotion as they watched her lay down, while the third curled up to sleep in the crook of Sakura's neck.


	2. Naming ceremony

**Sakura's Little Wolf Pack**

it was a long walk, and Sakura was surprised at how they all followed and never ran from her. she teleported as she had planned, and soon arrived at her destination: a small house in the middle of the woods. the village of Takigakure wasn't to far from here, and people often came to her in search of medical help because waterfall's medics weren't very well off.

she sighed tiredly, and flung the door open. she walked in, and held the door open. she looked at the wolves, who were looking around as if they were meant to stay outside- it was late at night and the rain was pouring down hard.

"hey, come inside!" she called. the wolves looked up, blinking. she noted the hints of surprise in each of their eyes, and they crept hesitantly into the room.

from the outside, the two story house looked rather small, but inside it was huge and cozy. the living room had super soft tan-ish carpet, and an L-shaped couch of black leather. there was a dark wooden coffee table, and a rather big TV (flat screen, i might add!) on one wall.

Sakura sighed again, dropping her two bags by the door, and plopped down and the soft cushions. she didnt last much longer, and was passed out on the couch, deep in sleep.

she woke up the next morning, to a very cold touch on her neck. she jolted up at the unpleasant feeling, to find that the small black-brown cub had been sitting on her shoulder and fell down off her as she sat up fast.

groaning, she looked around. once again, 10 pairs of eyes were watching her from the floor. shocked for a moment, yesterdays events flooded over her. she swung her legs over the edge of the couch.

"well. pups, huh?" she mumbled. she snagged the one closest to her quickly, giving it a look. it was a strange blue, both fur and eyes, and extremely sharp teeth.

he wriggled in her grip, but she continued to examine him with sharp apple eyes. "hmm... not just wolves." she concluded. "ninja wolves."

she could tell because she could sense chakra inside each wolf, though the one in her hands had a particularly large amount. she set him down on the floor, and he scampered back to the rest of the group.

Sakura eyed them all, and they all were looking at her with a sense of anxiety. '_do they think im going to throw them out?_' she wondered.

'**well, why not? why would we want a pack of ninja** **wolves?**' Inner stated.

'_thats a little harsh, don't you think? and besides... i might have a reason to keep some NINJA wolves..._' she thought, grinning inwardly.

Sakura remembered back to the last days she was in the village. a week before her very last day, was the Pein attack. Tsunade was blamed with the fault of leaving the village vulnerable, and the elders -who didn't like her way of leading to begin with- deemed her un fit to lead.

Donzo was put in her place, and because Tsunade knew stuff non-hokage's cant know, she was put in a high security prison.

Donzo, that slippery snake, had manged to swerve all the rules, and got rid of the counsel of elders and began to rule single handed. Sakura, having been trained by Tsunade herself, rose to speak against him. many other joined her, too.

but, when she was caught by the ANBU, she was put in prison as well. thats where Sai came in. he rescued her, and got her out of prison. Sakura rose against Donzo again, and Sai wanted to help. she forced him to remain un known, and Donzo caught her again.

finally, Donzo banished her from the village. he took her head band and slashed it, and she kept it in her bag as a memory. she had left a note, stating where she was, to all her friends. in a time of danger, they would come to seek help from her.

but for now, she was here alone, it had been a month sense all that happened.

Sakura shook her mind clear again, focusing on the present. if she raised these wolfs, it would hopefully come in handy in the futer.

"well, i guess im keeping you guys." she stated, and lots of eyes seemed to relax. "ok, first thing's first: names."

she snagged the black cub with orange splotches. his tail was wagging frantically, and he was licking her arm crazily. she smiled at him, and he yipped up at her. "hm, how about ginger?" she thought to herself. she set him down again, and he bounced around like a kid would when he was gloating.

next she pulled up the black-and-white cub, with oddly even coloring down his body. she ran her finger down the line, and an odd rumbling rose from him, almost like a cat's purr. Sakura giggled, scratching behind his ear as she examine his thick yellow eyes. "im just going to call you Oliver." she said, running a finger down his spine again. he snorted, making her giggle. "sorry, i just don't know what to call you!"

she scooped up another pup, this one was giving her a deathly glare. she tilted her head sideways. his thick red fur was matched cutely with his caramel eyes. she reached forward her hand a little more, but a low warning growl rippled from him. she sighed, putting her hand down. "you defiantly don't like me. what will i call you? ... ill call you fox." she sighed.

instantly he jumped down, and she scooped up another cub- this one was a pitch black, with deep, blank black eyes. it looked completely emotionless, and it stared at her with a stone gaze. "i can call you... shadow." she said, running her hand through thick fur on his back.

setting him down, she pulled up another. this one had stunning silver fur, along with beautiful purple eyes. his eyes were glaring at her with hostility, but she barely noticed. "now YOU are a handsome pup..." she stated, touching his soft neck fur. at her comment, he straitened up with a smug look in his eyes, and barked. "hmm, i'll call you bullet." she purred, running her hand through his fur again before placing him down.

next up was a pup with bright, handsome orange fur. his eyes were a purple-grey, with interesting rings around his eyes. he looked up at her blankly, seemingly bored. "hmm... definitely strong..." she thought out loud as she felt the muscle under his coat when he adjusted his position. "hm... i'll call you blaze." she smiled lightly as she set him on the floor.

as she pulled up the blue female pup, blaze hopped back up onto the couch. Sakura glanced at him, then giggled. "a protective little boy, aren't you?" she giggled again as he glared at her.

Sakura looked over at the little blue wolf with the white ear. her amber eyes were looking at blaze with amusement, before they looked at Sakura and she tilted her head. "oh my gosh!" Sakura cried, hugging the pup. "your sooooooo cute!" she giggled. "im gonna call you Lilly." Sakura proclaimed.

she set Lilly down next to blaze on the couch, and they both stayed there. then she pointed a finger at Lilly. "now, be careful around a bunch of boys like them!" Sakura giggled, then looked to blaze. "i have a feeling you'll keep the others in line!"

she scooped up th blue furred and blue eyed cub again. she examined his teeth, even sharper than the wolves around them. "he he. im calling you sushi!" i giggled. as i set him down, he went to sulk in his own little emo corner.

Finally, she scooped up the last pup. this one was a tabby, light brown with a black striped pelt. his green eyes glared hostility to her, but she continued to run a gentle hand through his fur. "im guna call you patches..." she trailed off, her eyes following the patterns of his fur. she realized she was starring into noting as patches nipped my finger softly.

she shook her head lightly, then smiled down at him. he blinked, then slunk away slowly to sit next to bullet.

Sakura looked up to the door as there was really loud banging , and rushed over. she opened the door, and looked outside. the first thing she saw was the Iwa headband, and then she saw all the blood...


	3. Studying up

**Sakura's Little Wolf Pack**

"Mrs. Sakura! we need your help!" cried out a dusty blonde Iwa Ninja. a man, cringing with pain, had his arm around said ninja's shoulder- blood stained his standard jonin pants, and as well as a long slash down his chest. just behind them, a woman with a few scratches was bent over a panting body, a red-headed ninja, as she desperately used poor medic skills.

Sakura's jaw dropped for a brief millisecond, before it clenched. she nodded, slipping out the door and under the slashed, black haired mans arm to take his weight.

she turned her jade eyes to the blonde, "go help her bring him in." she ordered. he nodded with a sigh of relief, and the pained ravenette shifted his weight to lean on Sakura, rather than the now blank space of air.

as Sakura lead him into the house, the pups peered from over couch, eyes round with surprise.

"thank you, Mrs. Haruno." the long haired boy leaning on her puffed. "they don't train field Ninja in medic Ninjutsu in Iwa, and its great that there are those who help, despite villages..."

Sakura hushed him, sitting him down on her black leather couch. a few pups- ginger, Oliver, Lilly, and sushi -scrambled over the L-shaped cushions to see the man. as Sakura saw them pile up, she saw the still weak looking yellow pup climb out from under her coffee table.

blankly realizing she hadn't named him, she mentally face palmed. she grabbed him from the floor, and put him on the couch. "your weak." she mumbled under her breath. "stay of the floor and rest. your name is Apollo, by the way." she added, thinking of his bright sunny fur and sky blue eyes.

the hard headed pup shuffled over to the man on the couch with the others before settling down like told.

she ushered the incoming two toward her, clearing of the large coffee table, then motioning for the two to lay the unconscious man down on it's thick glass. she disappeared down the hallway, retrieved an advanced medic kit, then came back out after thoroughly sterilizing her hands and slipping on latex gloves.

she quickly stripped the unconscious man to his boxers without so much as a blush. the other girl's face flushed a bright red, and Sakura excused her to go sit in the dining room. the pups watched her curiously, and a few even yipped as she was undressing him.

but, as a medic, Sakura had seen it all- let alone an injured man in his boxers. so, without delay she began searching out injuries, and using her medic Ninjutsu she healed each gap.

the worst was a fatal cut near his wind pipe, and she stopped and gritted her teeth. "come here." she commanded the blonde Iwa nin. he shuffled over, his green eyes wide with worry. she put a hand on his arm, and she happily found he had quite the bit of chakra still in his system. siphoning off about half of it, she turned back to the dieing man.

placing two hands over his stomach, she pumped it in. rapidly cells around his body regenerated, including the one on his neck. it also got his heart pumping fast enough to reach average speed from it's dieing rate.

and with the revival, his dark blue eyes snapped open and his breath came in by a gasp. his hands went to his chest as he gasped, and his grey-green-brown hair, short and cropped.

"where is Shinju?!" he asked frantically "where is she?!" he practically shouted, throwing his head from side to side. "Toru-kun?" called the girl ninja, who came running into the room. as he tried to get up, Sakura hissed at him, and he stopped.

"remain still." she ordered, laying him back down. he looked at her a long time before obeying. "you are the Haruno, who has been living out in the middle of nowhere and taking in people from all sides..." he murmured. he closed his eyes, "thank you."

she huffed, "don't thank me." she muttered, bandaging his sides and arms. "you caught me after returning from a long trip, and my chakra was low. my job wasn't done as well as it could have, your going to hurt like a bitch."

as she soaked a towel covered in blood in a bucket, he chuckled. "none the less." she shifted to see to the man on her couch, where the pups still sat by, sniffing him occasionally. he was awake, and as she told him to take off his shirt he was a lot more awkward.

"just do it, Jiro." the red head sighed, sprawled on his stomach with his head buried in his arms. "she could strip you to your boxers like him if thats what you want." he chuckled.

"sh-shut up, Masa." he snarled, finally pulling off his shirt as Sakura taped her foot impatiently. she set to work quickly, pressing her green chakra covered hands to his long slash. he cringed, the pain letting his blush fade away quickly. but his wound faded and shrank quickly, and once it was closed,she started to bandage it tightly.

as she went over his torso for any more scratches that might become infected, she sighed as she found nothing, her job complete.

"all set." she finished, whipping blood from her hands with the towel from the bucket. "now, relax here. im going to make you some chakra pills, with those you should make it easily to the Inn just to the south, not far from here."

with that, she made her way to the kitchen. she heard some footsteps just behind her, and as she pulled out a basket from the cabinets she tipped her head back to see the purple haired girl following her.

"Sakura-san, i-i want to thank you for saving my husband, and the rest of our squad." she said, bowing her head formally. Sakura grabbed a brown colored ball from her basket, tossing it the girl's way. the woman caught it, "eat up." Sakura called.

Shinju, Sakura recalled, smiled, taking a bite. then she paused, turning a sickly shade of blue. "errr... what's in this?" she asked, and Sakura slumped over.

"why does everyone ask that?" she moaned, waving her hands around. "i go through the trouble of fixing you guys up and making you pills!" she cried, wandering into the living room with her basket, tossing a pill to each of the three men. "i didn't even ask for payment!"

her wolf, patches, snorted from where he was laying on the back of a cough, and bullet yipped with an eye roll from on her leather recliner. the men in her living room took a single bite, and the blonde ninja nearly spat it out.

"ewwwwww, what's in this?" Sakura fell over, and the wolves all sweat dropped. "WHHHHHY?" she cried, rolling onto her back. "my pills aren't that bad!"

everyone laughed, even most of the cubs seemed amused, as she continued to badger them into eating the pills.

After they had left, supporting the most injured one still, she watched as the red haired one hesitated at the door. He called to the rest he would catch up, before turning back to Sakura.

"Mrs. Haruno, I thank you very much. Most Iwa ninja are aware you live out here, please, if you ever need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to come to the stone. You are highly respected." He said sincerely, dipping his head. He shuffled, pulling out a small little sack from his pocket. "I know you never accept payment- but please, as a sign of respect to you, take this."

She glanced from him to the small bag, uncertain. "… ok." She said at last. "But I won't take it for free. You have to first promise me that you will watch after the idiots in your group, okay?" she said, her eyes sparkling with a distant memory.

"I always will." He chuckled, taking her hand and dropping it in her grasp. "I wish you good luck… and hope your village will be wise enough to let you go home." He added, before leaving as well.

She watched the door for a moment, before turning back to the living room with a shake of her head. "I'll need more than luck."

Her eyes lit with curiosity, and she got to her knees at the coffee table, which Shinju had insisted on cleaning of the blood for her. She dropped the small bag on the table, looking at it curiously. "You would think people would prefer to get out without paying."

Patches barked his agreement once more, and as Sakura glanced to him with a smirk, she felt something jump onto the table. Turning her head, she saw Ginger sniffing the bag franticly.

"Ok, ok, I'll open it." She chuckled, picking it up. She unwrapped the string from around the top, and the sides of the cloth fell, to allow a sealing scroll to sit in its place.

"That is so tiny…" she mused aloud, picking it up. "How… portable." She carefully unrolled it, and even open it was only as long as the tips of her fingers to her wrist. She carefully unsealed it, and the 'poof' of smoke filled the room.

As the dogs yipped in surprise, she narrowed her eyes at the table.

"are you fucking kidding me?!" she screeched. The dogs went quite, and she heard them leaping down to crowd around as the smoke started to clear.

There it sat, made out of gold, a Katana. The sheath was decorated with blossoming branches carve into the shining yellow metal. The handle was black, with gold trimmings, and a long black cloth trailing from the handle.

"I tell him I don't take payment, and he gives me freaking GOLD?!" she grumbled. The wolves look at her like she had grown three heads, clearly stunned she didn't want such an amazing gift.

She sighed, flopping onto her back, rubbing her face. "Freaking expensive stuff, why would I need something so damn pretty?" she snorted, before getting back to her feet.

They followed her as she left the room, heading into the kitchen, and crowded around to sit at the door way. Sakura was in the fridge, pulling out a few bottles of sake. She glanced at them, before face palming. "Food, food, food for wolves." She mumbled to herself.

She pulled out a glass bowl-tray-thing, setting it on the counter, and the wolves tried to see what she was doing as she pulled food from it. After microwaving it to warm it up, she set the plates down on the floor. "Wolves like meat, beef is meat, so I'm sure ribs are fine…" she was telling herself out loud.

Bullet perked up, dashing to be first, followed quickly by Oliver and Sushi. A few pups, Lilly and Blaze, shadow, and fox, didn't approach, though Lilly stretched her head up some, and her nose twitched like she smelled the scent of the meat.

"Don't like beef?" Sakura guessed curiously, and the motionless pups looked at her. She shifted through the fridge again, searching for something else. "Hm. All I really have left is milk and dango…" she looked back, catching the twitch of Shadow's ear that he seemed to like the sound of that.

She chuckled, pulling out a few sticks of dango, and filled a bowl with milk. On a plate, she cut up the dango balls into small bites, she put the two saucers down, and the black pup approached, starting to eat the dango. Lilly shouldered blaze, giving him a hard look. He hesitated, snorted, and then he stalked toward the less crowded bowl of milk, Lilly skipping happily ahead of him to take a few bits of dango to the orange cat, who was sipping from the milk. He gave her a quick lick on the ear, and Sakura chuckled as she grabbed her sake. Fox hadn't moved, he sat there, glaring at her.

"Not hungry?" She tipped her head. He growled at her, bearing his teeth. Blaze raised his head, barking at him. The red cub snorted, sulking over toward the milk bowl.

She shook her head, slightly confused by his odd behavior. She blinked as she remembered not seeing Apollo in the kitchen, remembering she had told him not to leave the coach. As she pulled out some Dango, ribs, and a little mug of milk onto a plate, she saw ginger prance in, heading for the dango plate where Shadow still sat.

With the bottles of sake in her other arm, she made her way into the living room. She was right, there sat the small golden pup, and as she entered, he looked up at her with tired eyes. He scrambled to sit up, sniffing crazily. She giggled, setting the plate down on the couch. He quickly started to eat, and she sat on the table, setting down the bottles of sake.

Taking one and popping it open, she quickly downed the whole thing, before setting it down. She stalked over to a filling cabinet, pulling out files, scrolls, maps, etc. she dumped them on the empty space of the table loudly, making Apollo look up with drops of milk on his muzzle. He swiped his tongue around to lick it off, before bouncing onto the table.

As she chugged the next bottle, she spread out the papers. She grabbed a file, labeled 'Root'. Sitting with her legs crossed on the carpet, she began reading.

She felt the cushions she was leaning on move, and as she took another gulp, she looked back. There sat Blaze, Lilly, and Shadow. And as she looked back to the table, she saw Apollo, Ginger, and Patches. And, at her side, pawing at her sake bottles, were Bullet, Sushi, and Oliver. Fox sat a little way from the table, staring at one of the papers that had fallen off the table.

She sighed, "no, no sake for you." She told the three at her side as they almost knocked it over. "I don't think a wolf could have sake…" she drifted off as she felt the pups on the couch leaning forward to see what her file was.

"Good god, you guys make it hard to plan an infiltration." She muttered. She closed the file, setting it on the table. She quickly neatened up the papers that the pups had shifted, putting the scrolls together, and organizing the files.

"… Where is he…" she muttered, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. She moved to the window with her sake, taking a big drink. She was waiting for a message from- "there! There it is!" she sighed in relief.

In the sky, a white bird was soaring straight to her home. As she opened the window and took another sip, it grew closer, closer, closer… finally reaching her house and landing on the window sill. It chirped, its fluffy wings fluttering before pulling into its resting position. In one claw, it held a sealed scroll.

"it's about time, Neji, your really late." She muttered, taking it.

_Sakura-chan, _

_We all hope you are faring well. Or at least better then here in Konaha._

_Danzo has passed a new set of laws. He has increased taxes, and now students become chunin as young as when we took the genuine exams. Young kids are dying, Sakura…_

_Danzo is also severing our alliances. Though Gaara is angered with Danzo, he is proving he will not attack- but, that cant be said with Iwa, Kumo, and Suna's council._

_Speaking of councils, I just heard from Sai. Half the council has been sentenced to execution, a month from now. _

_Tsunade's situation isn't getting better, either. Sai is the only one to have seen her since you left, and she is locked away deep within the foundation. Sai tells us she is not allowed to be fed more than gruel, and only once every two days. There's no way we could get her out, and if we could, she will be very weak._

_Donzo has also locked up Naruto, but the blonde hasn't resisted… he won't tell Sai why he isn't fighting back. _

_Oh, and there is some good news. Me, Kiba, Hinata, and Shikamaru are going on a mission not far from you place, we will be dropping in, in a week from now. _

_Good luck from every one,_

_Neji._

Sakura growled angrily, throwing the scroll behind her. It hit the wall with enough force to dent it before falling and unraveling, and she turned on her heal. She stomped up stairs, leaving the wolves to watch her go. A few decided to follow her, while Blaze, Shadow, and Fox stayed down stairs.

Sakura stormed into her room, flinging the door open. The wolves scrambled to a halt at the door, watching as she beat the shit out of a punching bag. Each hit launching it up to hit the roof, until she hit it so hard it split, spilling not sand, put crumbled stones and metals onto the floor.

She snorted as debris piled up on the hard wood, before falling face first on the bed. "Damn the whole fucking world, and its mother fucking twisted shitty tricks!" she spat venomously into the white, creamy sheets. "With its spawn of fucking satin, and its shitty mind games. The hell is wrong with some people?! Why can't they just die?! Why can't you just fucking kill them, and bury them in shit?!"

The wolves stared in utter shock as she ranted on, eventually using words that even the devil wouldn't use. Bullet grinned with a tint of pride, before Patches rolled his eyes at the silver dog.

She eventually stood back up, sitting on the side of her bed. She stood up, making her way back down stairs.

She came back to the living room, seeing that the pups who hadn't followed her were going through her files and papers.

She grumbled something along 'nosy animals', before snagging a random file.

"Hmm… Akatsuki Reports." She mumbled to herself, opening the file. And as her old habit of reading out loud dictated, she began reading out the words as every pup in the room turned to stare at her.

"Sasori Akasuna. declared dead last year in Suna. Cause of Death: stabbing of the heart. Recent sightings indicate being located within the last 3 months near Rain…" she read out loud, her eyes narrowing. "Great. Last thing I need is to be hunted down… let's hope Akatsuki's a little busy to think about grudges." She muttered, groaning slightly.

She flipped the file page, noting dully that Fox was bearing his teeth at something. She didn't care, really, he had already proved to be temperamental.

"Tobi. Newly aquatinted member, spotted near Suna near the Akatsuki's recent base. Previous village unknown." She read, raising a brow as she scanned the stats. "That's some replacement…" she muttered. Apollo yipped an annoyed agreement from where he sat by her feet.

Flipping the page again, she continued "Deidara Iwa. Recently thought dead alongside previous partner, Sasori, now confirmed sightings in mist point to survival and continuance with Akatsuki. Recently spotted at a brothel in mist." she paused in reading, a smirk on her face that quickly evolved into a laugh. "Wooow, almighty Akatsuki is harboring a perv!" a few wolves howled with laughter while others glare (Apollo) or rolled their eyes.

She got her breath back as she turned the page. "Pein Of Sixth Paths. Now confirmed dead after recent attack on leaf. Destroyed entire village, however, few casualties aside from great injuries. Left leaf medics scrambling, and damaged Hokage Tsunade to the point of needing a replacement until health is returned." She glared at the paper so hard, willing it to burn. A few wolves glance to Blaze, who stood completely still on top the table and staring at the paper in her hands.

She spat venom angrily, using a few words many wouldn't even know existed as she turned the paper.

"Itachi Uchiha. Recently spotted in Rain, and in the outskirts of Kumo. Not much new information has been received, aside from recorded mention of Itachi searching for a Medic. Is believed he is injured, or sick, but is not clarified nor determined." She sighed. "Yay, maybe a new deadly sickness that might spread in the villages he visits!" she said sarcastically as she flipped to the next article.

Shadow sat, blankly staring at the paper as a few spared him glances of curiosity.

"Konan, Angel of Rain." She raised a brow, reading with a curious under tone. "Confirmed female member, believed to be a servant to Akatsuki's members. Believed to be particularly affiliated with either Pein of Six Paths, Itachi Uchiha, or recently immobile member Hidan."

She grunted her disbelief, glancing over when a loud growling rumbled from Lilly as she glared at a smug looking Bullet, Blaze looked ready to pounce on the silver wolf himself if he even moved. Shadow was glaring heatedly at Sushi at his side, the blue wolf looking humored.

She chuckled, turning back to the paper. She flipped to the last page. "Hidan and Kakuzu, Zombie Team. Kakuzu reported dead by leaf ninja, Cause of death is an experimental jutsu that kills cells with razor sharp microscopic chakra blades, created by Uzumachi Naruto. Hidan reported immobile by Shikamaru Nara, buried deep in the Nara forest in dismembered pieces. Research by top medics in Konaha report Hidan will be dead of oxygen deprivation in 300 days."

She closed the file, dropping it beside the couch onto the floor. She propped up her head with her arms behind her head. "Pein, the Leader. Konan, the only female, and Naruto has told me she is definitely _not_ like that from his brief meeting with her. Sasori, the Puppet Master. Deidara, the Explosives expert artist. Kisame, the ninja swords man. Itachi, the man who carried out the Uchiha massacre. Kakuzu, the Waterfall's escaped prisoner. Hidan, the immortal Jashinist. Zetsu, the spy of two colors. And Tobi… a new member?" she recited, her eyes closed as she recorded all to memory.

"Pein, Sasori, Kakuzu, Hidan. Dead or immobile. Konan, Deidara, Kisame, Itachi, Zetsu, Tobi. All alive and functioning. Sasori, skeptically alive or dead. Itachi, possible sickness or injury. Deidara, Not dead."

She sighed, nothing seemed to stay the same. Both members of the artist duo were possibly alive. There was a new member. What else would happen?

… maybe she should have never asked.


	4. Revelations of War

**Sakura's Little Wolf Pack**

It was only a few minutes after Sakura collapsed onto her bed, snuggled under the sheets, and went to sleep.

Down stairs, all the pups gathered in the living room. 'Blaze' was sitting on the couch, 'Lilly' beside him, the others on the floor and looking up at him. Except for 'Apollo', who was fast asleep, tucked into Sakura's room.

"**So what the hell? Are we going to fucking LIVE here now?"** demanded the silver pup.

"**No way. We should kill the kunoichi."** Said the glowering red pup.

"**She is our only chance right now, Sasori." **'Blaze' answered, blinking swirling ringed eyes. **"For now, we are just wolves to her. In the time being, we need to figure out how to become human again!"**

They all mentally grumbled. Ever since Leaf's shocking turn around, making enemies and pulsing out young ninja during the last year, Akatsuki have been caught off guard.

Kisame, the last person to face a Konaha ninja, had been utterly surprised to find a pack of 9-year-old chunnins. Their skills had not quite even reached Genin _combined_. He would have laughed at how puny the Leaf was, if he hadn't found out that after he defeated them they were sentenced to death for failure. Konaha was becoming weaker.

It was a few weeks after that, when the Leaf declared war. Southern villages were at war with the northern villages. Though even the southern villages such as Mist or Suna didn't like leaf anymore, and only fought to defend their own countries' honor.

With the constant war, it was hard to locate any Chinchuriki. The last two, the 8 and 9 tails, were both being kept in the dark.

With no progress to show for their work through this already year-old war, Akatsuki were under attack. A bunch of unknown rouges. They were the _oddest_ rouges any of them had ever seen, even in Kakuzu's 91 years of life or Pein's search for special Nin to join Akatsuki.

They had all been female, of many design and color and skillful fighting styles- the greatest shared traits of them all had been slit pupils, tails, and cat ears. Pein had even recognized one of them, a girl who had left the village from the advanced fighting unit of Rain's Taijutsu expert Jonins, and an ex Rain-ANBU. Massa, if they remembered right, was what Pein and Konan had called her.

These girls knocked them out after an ambush, and when they woke up, a girl with black hair and eyes as well as a Star Village Tattoo was glaring down at them. "Sorry, Akatsuki, but you must go. Well, not completely sorry. Have a nice after life in hell." She closed the box, and then they were thrown into the river, they knew because they had seen it beyond the cardboard before it was closed and then the soggy box walls slowly caving in and suffocating the wolf bodies they were in.

The only reason they had survived, was because Deidara managed to throw himself just hard enough against the wall to force the box against a rock. Which stunned the blonde wolf, and when the box unfolded at the force he plunged into the water. Kisame dragged him back up by the scruff as he was regaining use of his limbs, and a long, tiring struggle to stay above the water lead them to where this pink haired kunoichi had found them, only they had been clinging to the branch for a long time before she got there.

Konan and Zetsu both had slipped from rocks and had a second desperate swim to the branch. And simultaneously, so no one had known which direction to scramble- either avoiding getting knocked into the current or to try and catch them.

Then Sakura called out when the harshly treated blonde pup slipped in again, when they whimpered at of animalistic habit as they realized none of them had the energy to go after him, nor was there a place downstream they could get him to safety at. Even Kisame couldn't swim anymore, tired out with the new body and the amount of time it took him to realize he didn't have the gills anymore and nearly drowned himself saving Deidara the first time.

No one realized just who Sakura was until they started to follow her down the road. But as she gave them food, shelter, and warmth, even Sasori had no energy to do anything to the one who had destroyed his puppet body and forced him back to his preserved human body.

Now, however, no matter his logic nor calm, Sasori was indeed rather pissed. Zetsu and Konan sat on top of the couch in exhaustion, not caring so much about how they were huddled together for the other's warmth. And no one really had a single clue how to begin finding a way to be human again.

Upstairs, the blonde, ill puppy excused from the meeting for his success in opening the door and both his near drowned attempts slept soundly, as did the pinkette who had pulled 'Apollo' into her chest in sleep- which he didn't argue, for she was radiating warmth he did not have.

However, they slept soundly until the second floor window slid open slowly. The gust of ice wind hit them both, and they woke instantly. Sakura did not move, but her eyes snapped open, to find themselves settled on Apollo's cool blue, who shifted his weight in anticipation as he looked back into her leafy green eyes.

His blue eyes followed her hand as it slid under her pillow, and then they blinked as it slowly returned to her chest with a handful of Kunai attached with exploding tags.

Who ever had opened the window slid in, a black shadow, and Deidara found it nearly impossible to start a low, threatening growl, which froze the figure at its place just inside the window.

Pure, emotionless black circles met vibrant blue, Deidara facing the shadow from where his head was settled while Sakura's back was on it instead.

The figure said nothing, but turned its head the inch to face Sakura instead. The colorless eyes stared at her, and then narrowed. "Your still too tense when you fake sleep, hag."

"Sai?!" Sakura bolted upright, accidently bringing Deidara with her from where her arm had been around the pup, so the blonde wolf cub rested in her lap. "What are you DOING here?! Did-"

"No, Danzo did not send me." Sai cut her off, padding toward her bed. As he stepped out of the Shadow, Deidara observed the colorless white skin, the pure black hair and eyes, and the odd foundation uniform. No doubt he was from Konaha if Sakura recognized this foundation member, she wouldn't be able to recognize another village's ANBU Foundation.

"Why are you here?" Sakura asked, scrambling out of her bed, still holding 'Apollo'. "is it bad news?"

"No, not that I know of." Sai answered her. "Sorry, hag, but I didn't quite come alone. I was hired for a war mission by the Kazakage to escort him to a secure location in Takigakure's territory."

As if the word 'Kazakage' he been cue, a small wave of sand started through the window, Sai practically ignoring it as he continued, and as he finished, the sand swiveled up to a column, then pulled into the gourd on the back of a well known red head.

"Gaara-kun!" Sakura squealed excitedly, bouncing onto her knees to hug him, setting the wolf pup on the bed, before sitting down again and picking up Apollo with a suspicious look. "You're not here to try and get me to come to Suna again, are you?"

"You should come with me, Sakura-chan. It's not safe to live out here in a war, especially since Konaha is out for your blood. The citizens are in an uproar, Danzo spread a rumor you were a traitor to your village. The people of Suna don't believe it; come to us." The red headed teen said pleadingly, though still calm and collective and in a monotone, because that's how he does.

Deidara glanced between Sakura and Gaara with somewhat wide eyes. Would the pinkette savior really ignore the Kazakage's request? And were they such close friends that actually called each other by 'Gaara-kun' and 'Sakura-chan'?! And was she so important that Danzo, _Danzo_ had to spread a rumor about her to stop a revolt, and that the people of a completely different nation would support her so strongly?

Who exactly was this pink haired girl, who had forced Sasori to an inferior human body he had to be resurrected to, and cured his poisons in a day, before humbling saving the lives of what she thought were innocent puppies after she was labeled traitor and forced out of her village?!

…

…

…

**Neko (heavy assistance with this chapter, because Brendy has been very busy lately):**

**So yup, that's the realization for Deidara; soon the rest of Akatsuki; that Sakura is a very important main dish in a banquet that is the war of the nations. **

**Oh, and I want to give out a VERY special reviewer who never stops in making me and the girls proud in our stories.**

**COWS TROW UP LUCKY CHARMS AND SKITTLES, TASTE THE FREAKING RAINBOW!**

**Yes, you, that person, Mina, yes, yes my angel I love you so much I think ill just die and yes. *pets face* **

**Keep reviewing, my darling. We all love you very very much.**


	5. Announcement! (not part of story)

**announcement to all readers from Neko-sama**

Syrian Arab Revar  
Mauritius  
Bulgaria  
Kuwait  
Bosnia and Herzegovina

you see those places i listed? those are all places i have NEVER EVEN HEARD OF.

yet somehow, i have at least 2 readers following me from those places.

my precious babies i love you all so very much. after 2 months of inactivity you still comment within the first 10 minutes of a story TWELVE TIMES.

there are some people i would like to personally promote.

you people have praised the crummy song lyrics i made up in some of them, even one of my precious extra cup-cake-y followers sang it and put it on youtube,

_Reira Honjo._

you people give me and the Rebel Queens the comments of a lifetime, hilarious and praising and detailed and perfect.

_MinaBlahBlahBlahAnimeFan_ for your hilarity and constant reviews.

_Babybroant_ for being a dedicated reader.

_Guest: Connie Davis_ for being so attached to my stories.

_Akatsukilover15_ for being a complete cookie for taking on my poor orphaned story 'Yours Truely'.

_KarrineWinchester_ for your frequent reviews, i can count on your appearance.

_asredwer_ fore your honesty and help in spotting my mishaps

_moonloonstar _for your detailed reviewing in 'speechless' and other, i love to read those longer reviews so much!

i love you all, as well as all my others who take the time to AT LEAST type 'write soon' or 'love it'. it makes my day when every two weeks i get to come and see your beautiful words and i read them ALL. i even respond once in a while, so if you ask a question just stick it in a review and it SHALL be answered!

and remember how much i love you ALL!


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